Private-public projects are fine — just no cash subsidies

Hawaiian Falls sounds like a great place, with water slides, wave pools and a lazy river in Escondido’s Kit Carson Park.

The water park would be built on nine vacant acres by Harvest Family Entertainment, which owns and operates several other water parks in Texas. It would provide local youth with year-round activities – during the winter, there would be climbing walls, rope courses and zip lines – and be an economic boon to the area, drawing tourists and creating about 300 jobs for local teens and young adults.

But Escondido Mayor Sam Abed is right when he says the park needs to at least break even for the city to give Harvest the green light. Abed is not averse to the city donating land, but he won’t agree to Harvest’s request for an annual subsidy of about $250,000.

If the park can make money, it’s a great project. If it needs a cash subsidy, it is not.

The same principle applies to former Escondido Councilman Tom D’Agosta’s proposal to build an eight-story resort hotel next to The Vineyard golf course. Contributing $4 million in land is reasonable, because the hotel would boost the local economy and send occupancy taxes to the city. But an $8.3 million taxpayer subsidy to build an underground parking garage? No way.